


You Should Already Know

by Phia



Category: Free!
Genre: Captain Ryuugazaki Rei, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Minor Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka, Post-Series, Sharkbait Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 08:36:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5532764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phia/pseuds/Phia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei is the captain of the Iwatobi Swim Club. Nagisa is vice-captain but he acts like he has Rei's position. And they both still like each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Should Already Know

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jellyfishline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyfishline/gifts).



> title from Nicki Minaj's "Favorite" hahhhh
> 
> Merry Christmas!! It's still Christmas over here, EST, so yeah. @jellyfishline thank you for your awesome gifts!

Rei is  _ trying _ to sleep. He’s trying but his phone is on the pillow beside him, and he keeps staring at it as if he expects that it will vibrate any second. 

It’s past eleven at night, and he should be sleeping right now, following the schedule that he has for himself. He knows that it’s conducive to a good week, as it always is.

But this is also a special occasion, so it’s understandable why he can’t sleep. Or rather, tomorrow is the special occasion - the first day of his third year of high school. 

Rei isn’t as nervous about his grades and the impressions he’ll make this year as he is about how the swim club is going to go. Makoto and Haru entrusted him and Nagisa with it before their departure last year, and he knows that’s it’s difficult to manage.

The phone vibrates, jumping on the pillow as if it, too, is startled out of sleep. The light of the screen brightens, casting light onto the ceiling. Rei fumbles for his glasses on his windowsill before he slips them on and squints at the contact picture.

It’s Nagisa, making two peace signs at the camera. Rei answers the call and puts the phone to his ear.

“Nagisa-kun?” he whispers.

“Rei-chan. Are you thinking about the swim club? Because I am; I’m thinking about it!”

“It’s eleven at-”

“Okay, I know what time it is,” Nagisa hisses down the receiver. Rei blinks. He rarely hears that tone of voice from Nagisa, more used to the side that adores pastel clothes with animals printed on them, and listening to the same J-Pop song on repeat, dancing to it in a different way each time.

“Why are you calling me?” And maybe that’s not what Nagisa needs, for him to be forceful, but it  _ is _ eleven at night, and he  _ is _ tired.

“Do you think that we’re going to be as good as Makoto and Haru were?” Nagisa’s voice is small, just like he is. “I don’t want to throw all of their work away because we’re not-”

“Nagisa-kun.” Rei puts two fingers to his temple and presses. “We’re going to do well while we help the swimmers improve. Our success has proved to be remarkable and we will forward that onto the swimmers that we will lead.”

There is a silence on the other end for half a minute, and then Nagisa says, “Wow! You’re perfect at this, Rei-chan. That was all that I needed for right now. Goodnight!”

Rei sputters, but Nagisa has already hung up. He sighs, putting his phone and glasses back on the windowsill before closing his eyes to sleep.

The next morning, he remembers that he still has one carton of Nagisa's favorite strawberry milk in his refrigerator, so he makes sure to bring that to school.  
  


\---

 

“Misaki, you have to speed up on your turn,” Nagisa says, shaking his head. The boy pops up from under the water and flips his dark red hair back, grinning up at his vice-captain.

“What did you say?”

“Speed up on your turn,” Rei calls from the side of the pool, his eyes following Akira as he bobs through the water. “Good, Akira!”

Hikaru is still making laps. Misaki pouts up at Nagisa. “Why does Rei-senpai have favorites and your favorite isn’t me?”

Nagisa laughs, holding out his hand. Misaki holds onto it and pulls himself from the pool. Rei turns at the sound of his laughter. He can’t stop the smile that flashes onto his face.

“Our captain doesn’t have favorites,” Nagisa denies, throwing Misaki a towel that’s been sitting on a chair. Misaki wraps the towel around himself and opens his mouth to refute, when Nagisa yells, “Rei-chan! Where is Gou?”

“She’s with Rin,” Rei answers. 

Nagisa sighs. “Oh. I forgot.”

Akira and Hikaru are left to exit the pool by themselves. “Good going, Akira. You need to increase your speed, which can be directly correlated to your water resistance levels -”

“Rei!” Nagisa shrieks, and then he giggles. Hikaru perches on the edge of the pool, kicking his feet through the chlorinated water. Some of it drips from his dark green hair. “Don’t scare the kid with all that science stuff.”

“It’s not merely ‘science stuff,’ Nagisa, it’s the distribution of necessary observations that-”

“No, Nagisa-senpai. It’s okay,” Akira says, nodding at him, and then at Rei. “Rei-senpai is doing all he can to assist me.”

Hikaru rolls his eyes at the brunet, but no one else sees. Just then, Rei feels a tap at his shoulder. He turns around and there is Rin, wearing a tank-top and shorts, showing that his muscles have really  _ improved _ ever since professional swimming became his primary focus.

He shakes Rin’s hand, unsure of how to greet him. “Rin-san. Has your break been well so far? How is Australia?”

Rin smiles at him, showing off his sharp teeth. His eyes flicker around the pool and the well-kept area around it. “Break has been great, definitely needed. Australia has been helping me out, too. Have you been doing well as captain, Rei?”

Nagisa is running up to them. “Oh, Rei-chan is the best!” Nagisa embraces Rin tightly and closely, but when he pulls away, he latches onto Rei’s arm and leans his head on his shoulder. “He’s been doing an  _ amazing _ job. Everything is turning out so great!”

Rin’s frowning as he looks at Hikaru, who has started his swim across the pool again. Maybe he’s noticing how easily that boy gets tired. “And how’s Haruka?” Nagisa asks.

Rin turns back to the two, his cheeks burning with red heat. “Uh ... Haru’s good.” He uses one hand to rub at the back of his neck. 

Then he looks at Rei. “Hey,  _ Captain _ . Let’s go to the other end of the pool. It’s important to see the form your teammates have while they swim towards you.”

“Good idea, Rin-chan,” Nagisa praises, and he bounds off to the end of the pool, bouncing on his heels. Rei and Rin fall into step slowly, walking towards the other end.

When Rin starts muttering quietly, it almost startles Rei, but he holds onto his pride and doesn’t jump in surprise.

“Rei, when are you going to get serious?”

Rei’s brow furrows. “Eh?” 

They are at the end now, and Rin is squinting at Nagisa in thought. “You know what I’m saying. When are you going to get serious about confessing to Nagisa?”

“Get ready!” the blond exclaims from the other side. Misaki, Hikaru, and Akira crouch on their starting blocks.

“Don’t be like Haru and I were. Tell him!” Rin growls, but he keeps his voice low enough so that it doesn’t travel across the pool.

“Get set!” yelps Nagisa.

Rei is confused. “You and-?”

“Go!”

The three first-years dive into the water. Rei decides that he’ll surprise Nagisa by taking him to a restaurant that Saturday.

 

\---

 

Rei continues to store a list of restaurants that are Haru-approved, which means that they just serve mackerel and are generally decent. He doesn’t want to think about this too much, and he only has a day to plan it. So he just picks one at random from the list, which doesn’t prove to be a bad idea at all.

“This is such a nice place, Rei-chan,” Nagisa marvels. His dark magenta eyes gleam as he takes in the fairy lights strung around the dining room. The walls are wood-panelled and the air smells of pine. The cushions of the booth that they are are black and soft. Tiny white flowers are stuffed into a vase at the center of their table. They remind Rei of something you would see in a forest.

“Good,” Rei says, smoothing his napkin over his lap. They look a little out of place with their casual clothes, but the restaurant isn’t  _ that _ nice, is it?

Nagisa examines the laminated menu in front with pursed lips. “Hmm. They sell a lot of meat here. I’m going vegetarian - did you know that? It’s supposed to save the animals. And I don’t want to eat meat, but the vegetarian dishes probably taste good, right? If they don’t-”

“I’m sure they do,” Rei assures him, fingers twitching in his lap. It’s like Nagisa to be concerned about everything else around him. 

Should he tell Nagisa after they’ve eaten? Should he tell them before? He’s about to open his mouth and say something but then the waitress approaches their booth to ask what they want.

“A water and soda, please,” Nagisa pipes up, flashing his bright smile with his straight, white teeth on the waitress. She takes a step back and nods, startled by its brilliance.

They talk about the team and Rin and Haru and everything that’s happened since the beginning of that school year. Nagisa isn’t really captain but he still rules the team with an iron fist and eyes that see everything.

“Who do you think will be captain after we-”

“Nagisa-kun, it’s not an opportune or appropriate time to think about these things! We haven’t even seen the extent of-”

“Calm down, Rei-chan!” Nagisa holds his hands up in defense, laughing. “I was just kidding!”

Deep down, Rei knows that his own choice is already Akira. 

They eat their meal in silence, but it probably has to do with the fact that Nagisa manages to stuff himself with soup, salad, and pasta. Rei just sticks to roast beef. Nagisa leans back in his booth, drinks the last bit of soda in his cup, and burps.

“Excuse me,” he says, and then he rights himself, smiles back at Rei. “Hey, Rei-chan. Is there any reason you took me to dinner tonight?”

“Did you not like the food, Nagisa-kun? Next time, I can-”

“No, that’s not it.” Nagisa rests his elbows on the table and his chin in his palms. “Is there - anything you wanted to say?”

Rei wants his words to rush out in a waterfall of self-deprecation.  _ To ... to c-celebrate our time as captains _ ! But flashes of Rin and Haru’s faces go off in his mind and they blind him with pity.

He doesn’t want to be like them - skirting around everything for far too long, unable to fully enjoy their last year as swimmers, as high school students.

He closes his eyes to avoid the memories pulsing behind his eyelids - as well as the warmth from Nagisa’s smile while he waits on an answer. Rei doesn’t want to wait on himself anymore.

He opens his eyes. They fix on the white flowers bursting out of their vase. He sets his hands on the table, palms resting on the wood, and says, “This is my confession to you.”

Is there really a reason to be scared? Nagisa wasn’t scared when he ran after him and begged him to join the swim club, when he came to track meets and bothered him in classrooms and kept asking and  _ asking _ . He wasn’t scared of anything except failure. And maybe Rei should be scared of failure as well - but everyone  _ says _ that Nagisa is just as in love with him as Rei is in love with Nagisa. Wait - in  _ love _ ? Is it really that-

Nagisa reaches across the table for Rei’s hand. He finds it, threads their fingers together and squeezes.

When Rei looks up, that thousand-watt smile is directed towards him, eyes sparkling like the tiny lightbulbs above their heads, shining throughout the room.

 

\---

 

They have a few weeks before graduation. The moonlight filters in through the blinds of Rei’s house and highlights the contours of Nagisa’s face as he yells. He’s cheering for the murderer in the horror movie that they’re watching. The film is cheesy enough that there’s nothing to fear, and Rei tries to stop laughing, but he can’t.

“That’s so cruel!” he had gasped about Nagisa’s cheering. But once the murderer strikes, Rei folds his arms around Nagisa, tugging him into his lap.  Nagisa sighs, content with his new perch. He closes his eyes for a second, back resting against Rei’s chest.

They talk a little as the murderer hacks into the body of his newest victim. Finally Nagisa turns around to face him, blond hair brushing his chin. “So, have you already thought about who’s gonna be captain?”

Rei nods, pushing his glasses up his nose with a hand that was resting on one of his boyfriend’s legs. “Yes. Objectively, it would be Akira, seeing as his speed has improved and he’s proved that his leadership abilities are above average in several different situations-”

“Rei-chan, don’t forget Misaki! He’s improved too!” Nagisa whines.

“You can’t just pick people because they’re your favorite,” Rei lectures, about to cross his arms.

“But Rei~!” Nagisa puts his hands on Rei’s shoulders and leans in. “That’s what I  _ do _ . If I didn’t pick my favorites, I wouldn’t be dating you.”

He leans down and kisses Rei, who wraps his arms around him. When they finally pull away from each other, Nagisa’s smile isn’t any dimmer from the flickering lights of the television.

 

\---

 

Akira becomes captain, anyway.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i watched this clip a lot for this:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U2N34BsOuk


End file.
